An interesting thing stuck out to me reading Richard Allen– his experience extremely closely mirrored the way I was taught about slavery when I was a child. I was taught that most slave owners were actually very good to their slaves, that they treated them like family, and that most people only owned a couple of slaves. It wasn’t until high school or later that I realized how few slaves actually had this experience. It makes me wonder if Richard Allen and Jupiter Hammon’s testimonies informed historical accounts of slavery so much for white people that their accounts became culturally ubiquitous. The idea that white slave owners might take their accounts and begin spreading them as normal cultural fact makes a lot of sense to me. They both assuage white guilt in a way that most slave accounts couldn’t possibly do.

When reading the Sernett chapters, I enjoyed chapter fourteen. The reason for this is because Richard Allen had a kind master. His master was very understanding and did not mind that his slaves were learning about religion. Even though the master was not religious like his slaves were he did participate in activities that they were a part of. For example Allen writes, “When our master found we were making no provision to go to the meeting, he would frequently ask us if it was not our meeting day, and if were not going” (page 141). In this passage it shows that the master is concerned on whether his slaves enjoy going to their classes or not. I really enjoyed the master and how he was able to connect with his slaves. The book even discussed how the master knew going to these classes was a good thing. These classes would not make them revolt. I really enjoyed this reading and what the story was behind it.

“The Colonization Society . . . has held out the idea, that a colored man, however he may strive to make himself intelligent, virtuous and useful, can never enjoy the privileges of a citizen of the United States, but must ever remain a degraded and oppressed being” (214).

This quote from Pastor Peter Williams’ letter really stood out to me, particularly with the NFL protests that took place over the weekend. Despite Williams raised status as a slave because of his church involvement, it is refreshing to read a source in which he is painfully aware of the pressures put on slaves to comply with their masters. The NFL protests, demonstrated during the National Anthem by players, coaches, and owners this weekend, were in response to police brutality against black people. During the National Anthem, participating protesters took a knee, locked arms, or even stayed back in the locker room for its entirety. While these demonstrations have been overwhelmingly peaceful, Trump, along with other white conservatives, have taken to social media/the press calling NFL participants “sons of bitches” and “ungrateful.” The idea presented in the quote above by Williams eerily parallels the reaction against protesters by political officials and Americans.

I have included two clips from last night’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah which discusses the NFL protests:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2kqHuOniv0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Gx23vH0CE

The article by Richard Allen was certainly a refreshing one in comparison to what we have read previously in this class. We have seen how religion was used as a tool to continue to support the system of slavey. We have seen how slaves used their own forms of religion in order to cope with their situation. But this time, religion was actually depicted as an effective tool for challenging the existing inequalities, even if it was somewhat limited.

The whole of Richard Allen’s autobiography is interesting and worth reading, but the beginning is something that sticks out to me; he refers to his master in terms of endearment. Of course, my ancestors had never been enslaved (my Korean ancestors were severely mistreated and forced to work for the Japanese, but it’s nowhere near the same), but to see how he speaks of being enslaved is bizarre because there’s truly no such thing as a good master. There is no way to own a person and be good yourself, and also to, later in life, relinquish those slaves does not make you a good person. Realizing what you’ve done wrong and trying to atone for that does not automatically and without a doubt make you good. It would be interesting to see what this man had done besides force his slaves to buy their own freedom instead of freeing them and fronting the £60 bill himself, as, I would assume, God would have wanted him to. He could have afforded it if he truly saw them as family. I’m sure that being a Quaker probably factored into his sudden turnaround on the idea of owning slaves, but I can’t pretend to pat this old, dead man on the back for what he did to save himself in the eyes of his god.

One of the readings focuses on Peter Williams, a reverend in an episcopal church in New York. He was on a committee that had different opinions when it came to the advancement of black people in his area. Due to this, Bishop Onderdonk, one of his bosses, encourages him to resign for the “peace of the community”. This is one of the classic cases of following your heart because on one hand, you want to be a helping hand within the community to but also know the way it’s being went about is not how you planned it to be and you have your own vision for change, it’s just that no one will listen. Rev. Williams was really trying but I think his fellow committee members saw it and got upset because they wanted to address this project in a conservative way. In his letter, he know the resignation hurt,but he know he did his best to help out his people.

Emancipation day was something I have never heard about before reading chapter 17 of Sernett. In the African Baptist Celebrate Emancipation in New York State it looks at the reverend Nathaniel Paul’s perspective of slavery and the freedom that comes with emancipation day. The enslaved people always believed that someday God would come save them from the horridness that is slavery. Paul writes “It’s visage is satanic, its origin the very offspring of hell, and in all cases its effects are grievous.(Pg. 187)” The emancipation day gave people who were enslaved hope and a chance to finally make it to freedom. It helped strengthen their beliefs that God was looking out for them and their well being.

What I found interesting this week is Richard Allen’s writing. When I think of slavery, I think of gruesomely horrifying conditions and treatments. Allen shined a light that I never knew was present. I understand that each slave experienced a different level of severity, but for Allen to refer to his slave master as a father figure is very intriguing to me. This reading makes we rethink all of the harsh comments I made about Jupiter Hammon. Hammon and Allen were from the same general area; their experiences as slaves were probably similar. Allen’s master proved Hammon’s theory of masters becoming self-aware that they are wrong to be true. I think this is because of geographical location. In the south, this was probably unheard of because the north was so polarized than the south, in terms of slavery. I think that Allen’s master being a Quaker was why he came to his senses. I also feel that this is why most Quakers began to get rid of their slaves. Allen was eye-opening if only we could hear more similar stories.

I am happy to report that tonight, I have walked away from these readings slightly less of a cynic; this is perhaps the most uplifting piece I have read yet. (Fear not, I know that this happy feeling will be crushed next week.) Nathaniel Paul’s address was truly remarkable in my eyes. I think that it is important for me to note here that my personal feelings in regards differ a bit from students of color. Allow me to explain, being white, and also not having been born in the United States, I do not have any personal connections, nor any biological history rooted to the slavery that look place. With this being said, Paul’s address is truly moving. I felt what African Americans must have felt on that day. When the process of slavery was described, it affected me on a very personal level in the fact that I understand the pain of separation. It especially hit hard when Paul alludes that for most slaves, not surviving the trip over would have been an act of mercy. Furthermore, we continue to see a common thread. Slavery is bad in life, but ones freedom will be gained in heaven. I liked how Paul goes beyond just the issue of slavery. He also goes on to address the fundamental issues in the system of the United States, “[we] offer an excuse for the frames of the Constitution.” (pg. 190) He goes to claim the colonial need for independence from Great Britain is what caused the cuse of slavery to exist. That had people had purer intentions, this have been avoided. However at the same time,Paul states that liberation would not have been achieved had history been different. Remember, as we discussed in class, slaves were very much a symbol of wealth. Through the permanent abolition of slavery in New York, slaves were able to claim back their sense of self once more.

The fact that Richard Allen was converted to be a Methodist when he was 17 and stayed devoted shocked me. According to this reading, he seems very adamant that no other section of Christianity is greater than the Methodists. The way that his master treated him was interesting. He seemed to be more of the benevolent kind.